Thursday, July 09, 2009

The HSI e-Alert, a free daily newsletter service of the Health Sciences Institute of Baltimore, included a great mnemonic for CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation).

According to the American Heart Association, they say, anyone doing CPR should maintain a rate of 100 chest compressions per minute; that's the pace necessary to prevent brain and heart tissue damage in cardiac arrest victims.

So how do you maintain such a pace?

Apparently, having discovered that the Bee Gees' Stayin' Alive is paced at 103 beats per minute, the AHA decided several years ago to urge CPR students to use the song as a mnemonic.

And a study at the University of Illinois showed that, when 15 students listened to "Stayin Alive" while practicing compressions, they averaged 109 compressions per minute.

Not bad!

In fact, said the study leader, extra compressions are better than too few.

Yeah. But that's in a classroom situation while the students were listening.

What about afterward?

Five weeks later they repeated the drill, but with no music playing this time. They were told to simply think of the song. In this second phase, they averaged 113 compressions per minute.

Perfect!

So. Do you remember "Stayin' Alive"?

I do. Or, should I say, I remember just that signature line in the high falsetto . . .

In an emergency, the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" might help you save someone's life

The HSI e-Alert, a free daily newsletter service of the Health Sciences Institute of Baltimore, included a great mnemonic for CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation).

According to the American Heart Association, they say, anyone doing CPR should maintain a rate of 100 chest compressions per minute; that's the pace necessary to prevent brain and heart tissue damage in cardiac arrest victims.

So how do you maintain such a pace?

Apparently, having discovered that the Bee Gees' Stayin' Alive is paced at 103 beats per minute, the AHA decided several years ago to urge CPR students to use the song as a mnemonic.

And a study at the University of Illinois showed that, when 15 students listened to "Stayin Alive" while practicing compressions, they averaged 109 compressions per minute.

Not bad!

In fact, said the study leader, extra compressions are better than too few.

Yeah. But that's in a classroom situation while the students were listening.

What about afterward?

Five weeks later they repeated the drill, but with no music playing this time. They were told to simply think of the song. In this second phase, they averaged 113 compressions per minute.

Perfect!

So. Do you remember "Stayin' Alive"?

I do. Or, should I say, I remember just that signature line in the high falsetto . . .